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tv   The Situation Room  CNN  July 29, 2013 2:00pm-4:01pm PDT

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twitter and on the lead on cnn. that's it for "the lead" today. i'm jake tapper and i right now turn you over to the able hands of mr. wolf blitzer in the situation room. mr. blitzer. happening now, an extraordinary news conference. pope francis making some remarkable comments about gays and women. we're talking about a reporter who was on the plane. also, hillary clinton pay as social visit to the white house. that's not the only special access she's getting to the president. plus, some kind of stomach bug is out there across the united states and spreading quickly. stand by for what you need to know about this mystery illness. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in the situation room. we begin with today's truly unbelievable moment for the papacy and catholic church.
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during today's plane ride back from brazil, pope francis met with reporters for a long, unscripted and very, very canned it news conference. the pope's remark about gay, huge news out there. let's go to matthew chance. he's in london. he's got all the details. matthew, tell our viewers what happened. >> reporter: wolf, thanks very much. remember that pope francis has only been in office for less than five months and he's really working hard to bolster this persona that is developing as a pope who is willing to tackle some of the most difficult issues facing the church. he did that today on heterosexuality, been on his first official trip. activists have campaigned hard against church doctrine that
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frowns upon them, even staging controversial kiss-ins like this one during a papal visit to spain. but now pope francis appears to be softening the vatican line, telling reporters that while heterosexuality remains sinful, being gay is not. >> translator: if a person is gay and seeks good and has goodwill, who am i to judge him? >> reporter: that followed his first trip to brazil. reaction to the pope's comments online has been overwhelming. posted on twitter one comment reads, "loving pope francis, groggive and knows how to throw a great party.
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>> i genuinely believe the catholic church had no idea what it was getting with pope francis. >> the pope's comments aren't exactly a shift in the catholic church. his teaching is one of saying that homosexuals should be treated with love. but his remashs mark a massive change in tone, much more conciliatory than his predecessors. there were other controversial remarks, too, criticism of what he called lobbying by gay people and a call for women to be given a greater role in the church, though not the right to become priests. >> translator: we cannot limit the role of the women in the church to altar girls or the president of a charity. there must be more. >> reporter: it all adds to the
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sense that pope francis, still less than five months in office, is unafraid to tackle the big issues facing the catholic church. he may even emerge as a popular reformer. >> reporter: wolf, these issues, homosexuality and the role of women in the church, they're deeply divisive in the catholic establishment. there's bound to be a good dickery of opposition, though people may be reluctant to speak out at the moment. a lot of roman catholics out there will be over the moon to hear their pointive in their eyes, bringing them a little bit more up to date and a little bit more in line. >> matthew, thanks very much. let's dig a little bit deeper right now as to how pope francis is. with us here in "the situation room" is john garvey, president of the catholic university of america.
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thanks very much for for coming in. >> thanks for having me. >> you just came back from brazil himself. were up surprised by his tone on the issue, women, gay rights, for example, aboard the plane? >> no, though i wasn't on the plane. on the copa cabana beach. i was there and i was the persona that he shows to the public. the thing that was most striking about his appearance in rio is that he road in an open car and no sides and about women would run between guards to hold up their baby to be kissed and the pope could get out to greet members of the congregation. there's an argentinean drink drink that they drink, someone handed one up to him and i
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thought it might be poison! >> he wants to be in his word "normal," he wants to be a man of the people. but the comments on gays and lesbians, this is what he said on the plane. he said if they accept the lord and have goodwill, who am i to judge them? they shouldn't be marginalized. the tendency toward homosexualism is not the problem. they're our brothers. now, that sounds like a different pon from wa what we used to be something or how do you reconcile it, you miss the really big story. one of them is the love of the churches and all of god's children. >> a directive in 2005 barred any men in the priesthood who
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are actively homosexual, deep-seeded homosexual tendencies and support the so-called gay culture. that was 2005 from benedict. now in 2013, a different tone at least from pope francis. let me bring in a reporter who was on the plane back from rome. he attended that news conference up in the skies. what was it like? i assume it was a total surprise when the pontiff addressed all the reporters? >> yeah, he definitely caught us off guard. the news conference was hastily organized and we all had to get ready with questions. and as you can see, he basically was willing to answer anything we threw at him, including this rather sensitive issue about, you know, where he stands on gays in the pre-hood. >> now, what was your sense? did it mark a significant change?
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it's clearly in tone but what about as far as substance is concerned? >> well, i mean, i think it's better to maybe consult a catholic theologian on the substance of his message. in terms of the tone, i think it's all about emphasis. and when you look at, you know, benedict and his preference for, you know, focusing on doctrine, focusing on abstractions, instead you have a pope like francis who is dealing more with real world situations. and in the case of gays in the priesthood, he's stepping back and looking for solutions, looking for a way to fix it. >> john garvey is here. how do you think the pope's comments on gays will be received among american catholics? >> i hope they're received in their right spirit. i think stacy identified the correct point. pope benedict was an academic
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and spoke in careful and measured terms and the press got used to saying what he spoke the way alan greenspan or ben bernanke. this hope, his message is one of mercy. >> the one thing i noticed and you were there and john garvey was there. he likes to carry his own bag. there you see him carrying his own bag. he joked. he said certainly not the keys to the atomic bag. it's normal. we have to be normal. we have to be accustomed to being normal. stacy, what was your interpretation of that. >> well, i think the main thing is he wants his flock, his faithful, to be able to identify with him. he's first and foremost a pastor, the bishop of rome, and he wants people to be able to relate to him on a human level. i mean, just as a reporter when we were sitting there in that
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press conference, a press conference on a plane, you had the turbulence going on, the seat belt lights flashing, everyone sort of bracing and meanwhile you have the pontiff, he's standing there. he was completely relaxed, he was almost in this zen-like state. >> i took a tour when i was in rome, went to the vatican and saw the apartment -- just from the outside. he isn't living in sort of the royal residence if you will. >> not very fancy from what i hear. this is consistent, too, with what stacy said. i reviewed the profession from along the ground on the street level. as people went by, people would throw flags into the car and he was trying to dodge out of the way, welcoming, reaching out, normal way of behaving. >> well, he's just beginning his term, shall we say.
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i mike is with the wall street journal. thanks to all of you very much. up next, we're going live. plus the frantic effort to rescue a baby after homes collapsed in philadelphia. a fireman had to catch a baby who was tossed out a window. you need a girls' weekend and you need it now. ladies, let's go to vegas. cute! waiter! girls' weekend here! priceline savings without the bidding. where would you like to go tonight? ♪ [ male announcer ] it's a golden opportunity to see how lexus effortlessly connects you
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ben is joining us. ben, what is the latest? what's going on? what are you hearing? what are you seeing? >> reporter: actually, wolf, real slight correction here. we're just a little bit east. we're in hilo on the big island of hawaii, the island east of maui, which is where the storm was originally expected to make landfall, until the track was jiggled a little bit earlier this morning. people were a little bit on edge getting supplies yesterday. yesterday was a beautiful sunny day. today we still have gray skies and we have reports of wind. but one of the major effects of tropical storm flossie in the hilo area is the big waves and surf. you can see we have waves coming in from the east side and some surfers who have been trying to catch these waves, some of them
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with some success for what at beast is a three-second-long ride. these waves are much large ar tn normal than you would expect for this spot here, one of the prime surfing spots on the big island of hawaii. you can also see the gray skies, as well as a lot of the spectators who have come here to take a look at some of the power that flossie is still packing. a lot of the other islands and of corse also oahu and honolulu and skies will be opening up about three hours from now. shelters have been open on this island for about seven hours now. so far only five people have taken advantage of that opportunity. wolf? >> let's hope it stays like that. ben gutierrez from our cnn affiliate. thanks very much. our meteorologist and severe weather expert chad myers is in the cnn weather center. how rare is it for hawaii
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potentially to be hit by a tropical storm of this nature? >> i was in hawaii not that long after anike hit. it's very rare. you think about them sitting out there waiting to be hit, very rare compared to sitting in florida waiting to be hit. only four or five tropical storms in the central pacific at all. it's kind of a rare out there. this is not going to be the big event could you see with a large tropical system. it is only a 40 mile-per-hour storm. that's why there's only five people in the shelter. there will be winds bigger in kansas than with this storm in hawaii. the issue will be not the wind. 40 miles per hour may knock down a tree or two but the wind is going to bring in moisture, one up those hills. that mountain area will get a lot of runoff and i can show you
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the black and you white of it. and the rain just about hit the island. i shot my best round of golf right, there 8 2 right there, wolf. we'll see what it does to hawaii. >> probably not going to be playing a whole lot of golf in the next few days. >> not today. >> coming up, a nasty intestinal infection that is now spreading across the united states. s so -- so what's behind the outbreak? what do you need to know? >> and just weeks after a blast in philadelphia, an explosion turns a building to rubble, putting a baby's life in danger. >> they threw this baby out the window because the baby was on fire and the fireman had to catch the baby and all. century link. your link with what's next.
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a dramatic rescue today in philadelphia. witnesses say a fireman caught a baby who was thrown from a window after an explosion caused several row houses to collapse. eight people, including two children, were taken to the hospitals. here's how one eyewitness described it. >> i saw the whole house was down. i saw the house next to it, it was falling over. i saw firemen whose suit was burned up, they were hosing him down with the fire hose. they threw this baby out the wind open because the baby was on fire and the firefighter had to catch the baby and all. >> reporter: the firefighter caught the baby being dropped out the window? >> yes. >> reporter: that was amazing. were they saying you could drop her? >> new york the girl just threw him out the window and was
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hoping the firefighter caught him. >> pretty young eyewitness but very, very articulate. a deputy fire chief said a contractor was doing work on a vacant house. other witnesses reported smelling gas after they heard an explosion. today's incident comes only weeks after another building collapse. that one was being demolished and fell on to a salvation army thrift store killing six people. >> right now a research professor is expected to waive extradition to pennsylvania where he's accused of killing his wife with a lethal dose of cyanide. his wife was a prominent pittsburgh doctor. >> a verdict is set to be announced in the military trial of private first class bradley manning. the judge will read it less
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there and 24 hours from now, exactly 1:00 p.m. eastern tomorrow. that would be tuesday. manning is charged in the largest leak of classified information in u.s. history, allegedly handing over hundreds of thousands of top-secret documents to wikileaks. among other counts, he's charged with aiding the enemy, which carries a possible life sentence. >> huntington beach after a surf competition, at least eight people were arrested, no injuries were reported. amazon has announced plans to hire 7,000 new workers for its u.s.-based operation with most of the jobs offering pay and benefits that far exceed typical retail wages, according to the company. amazon has been increasing its network of warehouses in order
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to offer customers quicker shipping. >> up next, she doesn't hold any office but look who's taking advantage to her special access to president obama. stay there. we're going to tell you what's going on. later, one of the country's most popular preachers make an emotional return to the pulpit. rick warren has a special message he wants all of us to hear. [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be great if all devices had backup power? the chevrolet volt does. it's ingeniously designed to seamlessly switch from electricity to gas to extend your driving range. no wonder volt is america's best-selling plug-in. that's american ingenuity to find new roads. right now, get a 2013 chevrolet volt for around $269 per month. like carpools...
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happening now, lunch with president obama today, breakfast with vice president biden tomorrow. what's up with hillary clinton's return to washington? could there be any hints? plus a nasty intestinal infection spreading across the united states. the cause still a mystery. >> and a deadly weekend for bus passengers in this country and abroad after three separate
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crashes. is it time to take a closer look at bus safety? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." hillary clinton came to the white house today for what's being called a "social visit." her lunch with president obama is raising, though, plenty of questions. our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin is covering this for us. why did they meet today? >> reporter: there are always questions when they get together, aren't there? sources tell me this lunch has been in the works since the two of them saw each other at the dedication of the bush library in late april. they said let's do lunch. their schedules were really busy and they saw this as the first available meet they go could both meet. they did it al fresco, that means outdoors, outside the oval office. that picture, that is what you can call a power lunch. so the president in shirt sleeves, the former secretary of
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state was here for just under two hours and guess who was here at the same time? the current secretary of state john kerry. he was in a meeting with susan rice, the new national security adviser and secretary clinton swung by to say hi to both of them before she left. and as you point out, she is also doing another power meal tomorrow, having breakfast with vice president biden at his residence in the morning. no word if that will also be outdoors but, wolf, i'm told all these occasions are simply personal visits, social catch-ups, no specific agenda at all, these people have all been friends for some time. >> how often does the president speak with hillary clinton? >> reporter: i'm told they have phone calls since she left foggy bottom and they e-mails as well. she's one of the people known to
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get through to president obama's personal blackberry and she and bill clinton dined with the president on march 8th. >> do we have any idea what they have for lunch? >> we do. on the menu grilled chicken, pasta jumbalaya and you could see some salad. there were no drinks in the picture so we don't know what was served as a beverage with their lunch, wolf. these are the important questions. i don't know if we'll ever get to the bottom of it. >> we'll have to keep digging and digging for that. jessica, thanks very much. let's bring in our chief political analyst gloria borger and senior political analyst ron brownstein. what do you read into it, lunch today with the president, breakfast tomorrow with the vice president? what's going on? >> i think we can overanalyze all of this. tease are people she worked with for an entire administration. there are lots of important issues they all dealt with together. don't forget, joe biden very
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involved in foreign policy. maybe it was personal, maybe they talked about issues like syria, john kerry's negotiations on the middle east today. i'm sure those kind of things would come up between a president and his former secretary of state as well as tomorrow with joe biden. >> i assume the president just wants to pick her brain a little bit. maybe he thinks she can come up with some guide ideas. what do you think? >> sure. i think is more about his presidency than her presidential ambitions. look, 2008 was an extraordinary race. they divided the democratic party about as close in half as mathematical precision could get. they were probably the only candidates other than bill clinton who could have beaten either one of them in the past 40 years of the democratic primary. obama was probably the only one who would beat hillary clinton. it is remarkable how much they have been able to rebuild their ties. you see that today, an ease and a comfort. >> take a look at these two pictures. we'll show you this is a picture of the lunch today. let's put it up there.
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they're there, they're smiling, they're having a great time, having a little grilled chicken, whatever they were having. now look at this picture back in 2009. it looks a lot more serious over there. >> well, this is a relationship, wolf, that has progressed. don't forget, when she first became secretary of state, team of rivals. the questions, particularly by people who weren't big fans of hillary clinton was would she be able to work with this president or would she lead an insurrection as part of the cabinet. and as it turns out, she was a loyal member of this cabinet, even when she disagreed with him on policy issues, we did not hear about it. and i think that was a grateful president. and you see the two of them now, the body language is completely different. >> and not only her. think about all the conflict between president obama and president clinton in 2008 and at the democratic convention, which was kind of an eh, he delivered the unequivocal highlight, the speech that made the case for
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reelection probably better than any single address by the president himself in the campaign. >> and president obama was a grateful to president clinton for that speech. >> and hill him understaary cli understand what is can be achieved in second terms and what can be squandered in second terms. here's the most recent poll, among democrats' choice, hillary clinton with a mere 63%, joe biden 13%, andrew cuomo 6%, the governor of new york, martin o'malley, the governor of maryland not doing so well right now. you study poll as lot. what's your assessment? >> this has been extraordinarily consistent. normally you'd say three and a half years out, this doesn't tell you anything. we've had very consistent findings with her in the 60s. 2008 the democratic party divided with her strong and blue collar whites and president obama and the african-americans and white collar whites. she has the potential for not
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having a truly serious mainstream establishment opponent. >> i think that poll will not come up at breakfast tomorrow with joe bidenen. >> but you're convinced if she runs, biden won't run. >> because he doesn't think he'll have a chance? >> well, look at that poll. but i also believe he would not stand in the way of potentially the first woman president getting elected. >> you don't think he'll run? >> i don't know. today on balance -- don't fe forget, because of the gender gap, primaries are almost 60% female voters. other than barack obama and bill clinton, it's hard to see who else has run for the nomination in the past 40 years who would have beaten her in 2008. 2016, if she wants it, she is very hard to deny. >> the president last week spoke of these phony scandals. that was an pearn reference, i assume -- you hear about
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benghazi and you think about the secretary of state, hillary clinton and you wonder if she does return, is that going to -- >> obviously if she runs, those who have been raising this as an issue in the republican party will continue to raise it as an issue of leadership, for example. you see that it's now an issue on capitol hill that has not gone away. she left office, right? you see her testifying there -- >> about benghazi. what did you think when the president spoke of these so-called phony scandals? >> he's trying to make the case is president is interested more in weakening than in governing. can i make one other point about hillary clinton and polling? there is a big debate in the republican party now about whether they need to do immigration, whether they need to improve among minority voters for 2016 and whether in fact they can do even better among white voters without having to change on things with immigration. one thing to keep in mind, barack obama in 2012 lost white women by the biggest margin of
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any democrat since walter mondale in 1984. i think it would be a heavy bet for republican to wager they could expand that margin even further against hillary clinton if she is the first woman nominee of a major party. there's kind of a bank shot effect on the -- it's a big wage especially given how much room there is to grow among women. >> wendy: and they're going to be thinking about putting a woman on the ticket, too. >> they had a woman on the ticket in twait. >> yes, i believe they did and i believe they can possibly find a different one. >> thanks very much, ron brownstein and gloria borger. >> and coming up, a mysterious stomach bug is making its way through the united states.
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growing concerns this hour over the outbreak of a nasty intestinal bug that seems to be spreading across the united states. the centers for disease control now reporting 353 people are sick across 14 states, as well as in new york city. and the cause is still a mystery. our senior medical correspondent is joining us now with details. elizabeth, what do we know? what's making these people so sick? >> wolf, we know this is a parasite called cyclospora.
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and some people get sick and their immune system fights it off, a little bit of diarrhea, vomiting and they're fine, but other people aren't. there are medicines that can help. this is not something frathankfy we're seeing people die from. >> is a specific cause pinpointed? >> they haven't pinpointed it yet. usually cyclospora is caused by something in produce. they still haven't figured out what it is. >> like specifically do they have any better idea than that? >> they don't. they don't even know that it is produce. all they know is in the past it's been responsible for causing outbreaks of cyclospora. but really they don't know anything at this point. >> so what do we do to avoid it? >> we would never want to tell people to stop eating produce. you want to wash your produce. it's not a 100% effective at
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getting rid of it but it's still something you should do. you want to wash your hands. again, not 100% effective but still something you should do. and if you have the symptoms, the vomiting, the diarrhea, the low-grade fever, it is worth talking to your doctor. as i said, there are drugs that can help. there are antibiotics out there. go to your doctor and say, hey, i heard about this outbreak, is that what i have, can you test me? there really are some drugs that can help. >> can it be deadly? >> i suppose theoretically it can be deadly. we haven't seen anybody die. we've had about 20 people go into the hospital. typically that is not deadly. >> a new cancer drug that could save thousands of lives each your. dr. sanjay gupta could be with us. >> and a deadly weekend for buses.
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after three separate crashes, is it time to toughen safety regulations? ut the land than probably anyone else. we've had this farm for 30 years. we raise black and red angus cattle. we also produce natural gas. that's how we make our living and that's how we can pass the land and water back to future generations. people should make up their own mind what's best for them. all i can say is it has worked well for us. a quarter million tweeters musicare tweeting.eamed. and 900 million dollars are changing hands online. that's why the internet needs a new kind of server. one that's 80% smaller. uses 89% less energy. and costs 77% less. it's called hp moonshot. and it's giving the internet the room it needs to grow.
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♪ a very somber scene inside a spanish cathedral today where a memorial service was held for the 79 victims to perished in last week's horrific train crash. the driver of the train has been
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charged now with 79 counts of homicide and an undetermined number counts of causing injury. about 70 of the people injured in the crash remain hospitalized as of sunday. meantime, in switzerland two commuter trains collided head on today injuring at least 40 people, including five seriously. one train's engineer is said to be missing. a railway spokesman said it's too early to know what caused this crash. >> from trains to buses and a series of accidents, two of them deadly just in the last couple of days and it's all raising very serious questions about bus safety and whether or not tougher regulations are needed. cnn's rene marsh is joining us now. she's been investigating what is going on. rene, what are you seeing? >> this weekend was a deadly weekend for people traveling. today we're looking specifically at bus safety after two crashes in the u.s. and a third, one
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overseas. in indianapolis youth pastor chad phelps, his pregnant wife and a chaperone were killed returning from a church trip. >> the bus just flew into my vision in an instant. >> reporter: the driver told investigators his brakes failed. in italy, this bus plunged who are than 100 feet. police suspect brake problems. and floodwaters swept away a bus but everyone survived. three bus crashes in just two days a and earlier this year bus crashes in oregon and california killed nine each. it's enough to make passengers question bus safety. the federal government regulates commercial carriers like tour buses but privately owned noncommercial buses for private schools or church groups like the one in indiana fall under looser regulations.
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>> there are people crawling out of the bus, there were people who were severely injured, people who were dead. >> reporter: in indianapolis, the driver of was not required to keep a log. like commercial carriers. a department of transportation website shows no prior accidents for the bus involved in the deadly indianapolis crash. industry insiders say consumers should be proactive. >> you have the right to ask the bus company about the hours of service, about their drug and alcohol program, about the type of drivers they have. after all, it's your money. >> also a proactive consumer, also finds out the trip planned, the final itinerary to make sure that it is in compliance with the federal limits on how many hours are allowed behind the wheel for that driver. meaning you want to know that
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your bus driver will be allowed to get a break or get a relief driver if this is a long trip. so you also have the right to know the kind of insurance the bus company has as well. >> if you go on a bus trip, do you have a right to know the track record, the safety record of the bus company, shall we say? >> you absolutely do. you want to find out the us-dot number. with that number in hand, you can simply log on to the department of transportation's website, plug in that number, and it will pull up, if there are any prior accidents and you can get that information as far as the safety ratings as well. >> i personally think they should have seat belts on these bus, but that's a subject for another day. thanks very much. when we come back, one of the country's most respected preachers back in the pulpit after a shocking family tragedy. and in our next hour, an arrest after more of d.c.'s landmarks are vandalized with green paint. weekdays are for rising to the challenge.
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henna tattoos. in rhode island, fishing boats line up in the harbor. in the philippines, boats wait for riders at ann enchanting island. hot shots s coming in from reporters around the world. pastor rick warren suffered a shattering family tragedy this year, and now for the first time since his son's suicide, he's back in the pulpit. pastor warren has a special message he wants the whole country to hear. >> in the past 16 weeks since mental illness took my son matthew's life -- >> reporter: an empassioned rick warren delivered his first service since april. with his wife by his side, warren told his church congregation matthew suffered from mental illness since childhood. >> we had gone to the best doctors money could buy. we had gotten the best medications.
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we had the best therapy. we had the best people praying. thousands of people praying. we have an incredibly strong family with deep, deep faith. it just did not make sense. >> reporter: the grieving couple's influence reaches far beyond the walls of this church. warren is the author of the mega bestseller "the purpose driven life." saddleback church launched a global initiative to provide help for people who are hiv positive and remove any associated stigmas. after their son's suicide, the warrens' new pledge is to erase any shame associated with mental illness. >> it's amazing to me that any other organ in your body can break down and there's no shame and stigma to it, but if your brain breaks down, you're supposed to keep it a secret. huh? there's no stigma. you get diabetes, no problem. you get heart disease, no problem. your lungs don't work, no problem. you break a bone, break the back, if your liver stops
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working, no stigma. but if your brain doesn't work right, why should you be ashamed of that? >> warren credits relatives, especially matthew's surviving older siblings josh and amy, with leading the family through its darkest moments. >> i am in a family of spiritual redwoods. i mean, they are giants of faith. it is a rock-solid family, and actually, when matthew died, amy said, you know daddy, she said satan picked the wrong family to pick on. he's going to lose big-time on this one. >> reporter: saddleback church officials say rick warren will not grant any interviews soon, but they say we will hear a lot from the pastors, especially as he begins his mission to remove the stigma of mental illness. the actor jason patrick is making a high-profile push for new legislation in california to protect sperm donors. his crusade stemmed from a custody dispute with a former
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girlfriend. the new bill would allow donors to sue for parental rights. he told chris cuomo about what happened in his case. >> that's a known donor sperm form, which means you waive all your rights, if you have a known doe mor. >> but what was signed by you and danielle is an intended parent form. >> right. >> that's like 20-plus pages. >> that's right. >> of your signatures. it says in here that obviously you're intended parents. that you have to notify the state if you change your partnership. >> that's right. >> and that if something happens to the mother, the embryos would go to you? >> that's right. >> and all of this was signed by you and danielle? >> and a witness at the fertility firm. >> and to you, what does this mean? >> that i intend to parent this child. the word parent means to birth, nourish, raise a child. if i'm signing jason patric intends to parent and danielle
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signs next to me, not only are we the parents, but she's confirming that she wants to raise this child with me. >> but the judge kicked you right out of court. why didn't he regard this as the contract for parenting? >> because he misinterpreted this and that's the whole point of this bill that senator hill is putting out. it's not really a new law. it's a clarification of the law's original intent. it was never meant to stop someone who just wasn't married and have to use ivf from proving he's a father in another way. >> the california state assembly is expected to vote on the bill next month. happening now, fears that the crisis in egypt could explode again at any moment. we're live in cairo following protests. violence and deep worries. there could potentially be a new civil war. plus, we go behind the scenes of an fbi rescue. more than 100 teenagers across the united states pulled out of the sleazy world of prostitute. and harsh reality for one of
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the real housewives of new jersey. she and her husband face a federal indictment. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we begin this hour in a violence and turmoil. protesters demanding the return of mohamed morsi. they fear another crackdown by security forces. one that we saw over the weekend and maybe even worse. there is also real concern that opposition to the interim military backed government could possibly escalate into real fighting, including a civil war. our senior international correspondent arwa damon is now in cairo. she's joining us. first of all, what's the very latest? what's happening on the streets of cairo and alexandria?
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>> reporter: well, wolf, we were down at the pro-morsi camps earlier in the day, and demonstrators there most certainly are digging in despite warnings by the military-backed interim government that they need to disperse to various areas of the capital that they have taken over. they are saying that the more blood that is shed, the more determined they've become. they've erected even more barricades to try to give themselves they say enough time to clear out women and children from these areas should security forces decide to go in. they are also undertaking some pretty significant medical preparations, beefing themselves up in that aspect as well as following the violence you mentioned that took place over the weekend, leaving dozens of people dead. what we're seeing right now is an incredibly complex situation that this nation is facing, to say the least. you have these two camps, the
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pro-morsi camp and the anti-morsi camp, becoming increasingly polarized and hardened in their stance. we also have the emergence of a much smaller third party, calling itself that as well, saying that they are neither with the military nor with the pro-morsi camp, the islamists. and you also have this sense amongst some people as well, that this revolution that began over two years ago has been hijacked twice in their perspective. they'll say first by morsi, by the muslim brotherhood, by the islamists and now by the military. a lot of people with also yet another opinion saying that they're finding it increasingly difficult to see how the country is going to emerge from this standoff that threatens to grow more bloody by the day, wolf. >> because i know top u.s. officials are deeply concerned. right now the military, which is opposed to morsi, put this interim government in place, they have the weapons, they have the arms, but there is deep
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concern of the muslim brotherhood and the pro-morsi forces wind up getting weapons. this thing could explode into a real, real dangerous situation. so here's the question. is there any indication that the muslim brotherhood, and they're protesting on the streets right now, are about to get weapons, if you will, to fight the military? >> well, wolf, they continue to claim that they have no intention of arming themselves, that by and large, they most certainly, they say, want to continue to demonstrate peacefully. of course, we're hearing from the interim government that they are getting fired on by pro-morsi supporters. they are blaming them by and large for the escalation and violence for the bloodshed. saying the vast majority of the time, that they are the ones who do fire first. they are calling them terrorists as well. that is also what we're hearing
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from those who are currently supporting the military and this government. at this point in time, of course, the weapons are in the hands of the military, but they also are coming under incredibly harsh criticism by groups like human rights watch amnesty international for this ongoing excessive use of force. america's position, of course, very difficult to understand exactly what that is at this point in time when it comes to egypt. a lot of anger from both sides here about what america's position is perceived to be at this point in time. >> arwa, be careful over there. we'll check back with you tomorrow. one of the big questions in egypt right now, who's really in charge? would it be the civilian government or would it be the military who put this government into power? egypt's interim prime minister spoke exclusively with cnn. what did he have to say?
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>> reporter: well, who's not in charge is certainly the muslim brotherhood president mohamed morsi, who was deposed on july 3rd, as you know. and our viewers know i spoke to the interim prime minister, a civilian government with heavy military backing. i asked him essentially look, who's calling the shots in this country now? is it the military leadership that engineered this second phase of revolution, or a coup, depending on who you talk to, or is it you, the prime minister, the head of the civilian government in egypt, and why should the population of egypt or the world trust the military once again in this country? and this is what he had to tell me, wolf. >> are you, the government, in charge? or is the military in charge right now? who is really calling the shots in egypt? >> as far as i am concerned, i feel very much in charge with my council of ministers.
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and i haven't seen any indication or any sign from anyone to tell me what to be done. we discuss, we have a large discussion in the cabinet, but only -- but also other political activists that we would like to hear. we put our ideas to the people to discuss. but the moment i feel that the civilian government is besieged, i will put my resignation. >> there you have it in this exclusive interview. i also asked him some very important questions about the muslim brotherhood going forward. they are promising an all-inclusive political process, yet at the same time, they are detaining the ex-president mohamed morsi. they are jailing scores of muslim brotherhood members. and so many people doubt that this all-inclusive transparent political process will go smoothly. the other big question, wolf, is will we see more violence? i asked him, will the government allow islamist protests in the
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street of cairo? he said sure, as long as they do it according to the rule of law and ask for permission for a specific place and a specific time. we know that muslim brotherhood protesters are not likely to do that, so the question is going to be how much more bloodshed on the streets of cairo. >> a dangerous situation, as i said, pivotal moment in the history of egypt right now. good work. thank you. let's turn to a small glimmer of hope right now for the middle east, and for a peace process that has fixated and frustrated american presidents for generations. here in washington tonight, within the next few hours, israeli and palestinian negotiators, they will come together, they will sit down for the first time in three years to begin the peace process. president obama is calling this new round of talks, in his words, a promising step forward, but everyone involved acknowledges there are still plenty of obstacles and many hard choices ahead. here's our foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty,
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she's joining us from the state department. i take it it's going to be the small dinner with the representatives from israel, from palestine, and the united states, beginning this process? >> correct. and secretary kerry will be there. we expect that his new envoy will be there. and, of course, representatives from both sides, face to face. so it's a risk, but it's also an opportunity for everyone. three years since direct middle east peace talks broke down yet again. secretary of state john kerry is hoping this time could be different. >> i think reasonable compromises has to be a keystone of all of this effort. i know the negotiations are going to be tough. but i also know that the consequences of not trying could be worse. >> just hours before israel's representatives and palestinian negotiators were scheduled to sit down for a working dinner at
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the state department, kerry introduced his new middle east env envoy, veteran diplomat martin endick. >> it's my belief that peace is possible. >> reporter: existing side by side with israel is a sobering reality. borders, security, refugees, the status of jerusalem and palestinian recognition of israel as a jewish state. both sides are pledging to stick with negotiations for at least nine months. >> if we're making progress and we're continuing to make progress, this is not a deadline, it's not a stop end. it's just an agreement to continue to work through that time period. >> reaching agreement will be a 24/7 operation from here on out, says one middle east expert. and the leaders of the political territories, israel, as well as
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president barack obama have to give it their all. >> netanyahu has to own them. and ultimately, the president of the united states, who's probably going to have to close this deal in a high-profile, high-risk camp david-like summit, is going to have to own it, too. >> so, tonight, we've got this working dinner, and tuesday, they will be having these face-to-face talks, and they're basically procedural talks that are going to lay the path for the substantive talks taking place, and those will be in the middle east. wolf? >> we'll watch it every step of the way. let's hope they succeed. god knows they really need peace in that part of the world. and you've got to give the secretary of state a lot of credit for trying as much as he has over these past several months. jill dougherty, thanks very much. this just in. the united states senate has
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confirmed james comby to be the next director of the fbi. he received obviously very strong bipartisan support. look at this. the final vote, 93 in favor of confirmation to one, with two senators voting present. senator rand paul was the single no vote against james comey. just a little bit ago, senator paul explained why he wanted to filibuster, saying the fbi has not necessarily answered all of his questions about the potentially use of drones in the united states. paul says it doesn't necessarily need a warrant to deploy this technology and while he doesn't agree with that, he stopped blocking comey's confirmation, even though he voted against it on the final roll call vote. overwhelming support, 93-1. two present in favor of comey. up next, a major crackdown on child prostitution, from racetracks to truck stops across the united states, the fbi says
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dozens of young people have been rescued. and only days after a vandalism at the lincoln memorial here in washington, two more washington landmarks have been splattered with green paint. we are now learning of an arrest. ♪ "i'm part of an american success story," "that starts with one of the world's most advanced distribution systems," "and one of the most efficient trucking networks," "with safe, experienced drivers."
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first, it was the lincoln memorial. now two more washington landmarks have been vandalized in the very same way. splattered with green paint. a statue near the smithsonian. just a few hours ago inside a chapel at the national cathedral here in washington. erin mcpike has been working the story for us. i take it now we're getting word of an arrest. >> there was one arrest today. d.c. police tells cnn they arrested a female today at the national cathedral where they
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found wet green paint splattered on an organ console in the bethlehem chapel. there was even more paint in the children's chapel. they charged the woman caught there with defacing property but that's all police can tell us at this time because the investigation is still ongoing. and it may be separate from two other sightings of green paint in just the past few days. because over the weekend, park police discovered more green paint doodled at the back of the statue in front of the smithsonian castle, after discovering green paint thrown on the lincoln memorial early friday morning. police have yet to determine if all of these incidents are connected, but the good news is that officials say that in all of these cases, the green paint can be cleaned up rather easily. >> so we don't know if this is one individual doing this or copycats. >> it could absolutely be a copycat crime. >> that's what's going on. thanks very much. the fbi says more than 100 children have been rescued in
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its largest ever undercover crackdown on child prostitution. it uncovered one especially disturbing trend. pimps cashing in on increasing demand surrounding major sporting events like the super bowl and the ncaa final four. our crime and justice correspondent joe johns is joining us. he's got details. what is the fbi saying about this sting? >> wolf, it was the fbi's largest operation to date in a decade of crackdowns on the use of children in the sex trade in some of america's largest cities. it's a human tragedy, and frankly a little shocking that so many examples of this were brought out into the public's view over a single summer weekend. the fbi recorded and provided video of the operation to the public. the numbers for just 72 hours of work are staggering. investigations in 7 cities. 105 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 pulled out of the world of prostitution. 150 suspected pimps arrested.
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>> this operation targeted venues where girls and adults are operated for commercial sex. that includes street tracks, truck stops, motels, casinos, internet sites, social media platforms, and the like. >> more and more, authorities treat young prostitutes as victims as opposed to perpetrators. the fbi provided this interview with a woman now 21, who described the hopelessness she felt in the sex trade. >> you are the bottom of the bottom. >> the breakdown of the targeted cities in operation cross-country tells a lot. san francisco had some of the highest numbers. 12 juveniles taken off the streets and 17 alleged pimps arrested. in detroit, ten juveniles, 18 alleged pimps. oklahoma city, three juveniles and 13 alleged pimps. arrested in atlanta, jackson,
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mississippi, reno, nevada. >> consistently what we receive on a monthly basis in terms of reports of potential child sex trafficking. it's across the country. it's in every community. every state. it's not unique to any one part of the country or region. >> reporter: authorities say it's not uncommon for suspects and victims to be identified around big athletic events such as the super bowl and the ncaa final four. >> we see gathering of people with excess money. and interested in the festivities and frolic that go around high-profile sporting events. >> some teenagers who were rescued from this lifestyle return to it, which is the most troubling thing of all. if you see a kid out streak walking, you need to pick up the phone and get them some help. >> good advice. thanks very much. up next, remarkable comments by pope francis about gays.
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is the catholic church changing its stance? and look who popped into the white house today. we have details of a closely watch eed power lunch between hillary clinton and president obama. you deserve more than justo flexibility and convenience. so here are a few reasons to choose university of phoenix. our average class size is only 14 students. our financial tools help you make smart choices about how to pay for school. our faculty have, on average, over 16 years of field experience. we'll help you build a personal career plan. we build programs based on what employers are looking for. our football team is always undefeated. and leading companies are interested in our graduates. we'll even help you decorate your new office. ok. let's get to work.
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take a quick look at some of the other top stories in "the situation room" developing right now. lots of people would have loved to have been a fly on the wall at this lunch. hillary clinton joined president obama at the white house for about two hours earlier in the day. officials there won't say what they talked about, but a deputy press secretary says it was largely friendship on the agenda. and now we're hearing the former
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secretary will have breakfast tomorrow with vice president joe biden, a potential white house rival if she decides to run for the democratic nomination and if he decides to run for the democratic nomination. anthony weiner's latest sexting scandal is taking a toll on his race for the new york city mayor. a new poll of likely democratic primary voters shows 53% think he should drop out of the race. and if she stays in, the same poll shows weiner now in fourth place. he was in first place before new revelations that he continued to send lewd messages after he resigned from congress. weiner's campaign manager resigned over the weekend. pope francis stunned reporters on his flight home from brazil with a remarkably candid question and answer session. when asked about gay priests, the pope said, and i am quoting him now, "if someone is gay and he searches for the lord and has good will, who am i to judge."
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our vatican analyst john allen says the remark represents a significant shift in tone for the catholic church. though not necessary lay major shift in substance. we shall see. still ahead, questions about a high level mission about former president jimmy carter. is he now planning a trip to north korea? we'll have the latest. we also have important news if you're a smoker. new research could save your life. sfx: birds chirping sfx: birds chirping it's been that way since the day you met. but your erectile dysfunction - it could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph like needing to go frequently or urgently.
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sfx: oil gushing out of pipe. sfx: birds chirping. happening now, a new general race of threats in north korea. we're inside the secretive country, watching kim jong un and the source of his power. plus, the french resort of cannes rocked bay new jewel heist. and the real housewives of new jersey are used to brawls, but now two stars of the show are in a legal fight against a 39-count criminal indictment. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room."
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relatives of an american held captive in north korea are growing more concerned by the day about his condition. kenneth bay was arrested last november and sentenced to hard labor in may for crimes against the state. now there's talk of a high level mission to north korea to try to secure his release, possibly, possibly by a former united states president. brian todd is looking into the story for us. brian, what are you finding out? >> the keyword possibly, wolf. jimmy carter's aides say he has no immediate plans to go to north korea, but that language could be a bit calculated right now. mr. carter has been known to appear in north korea on his own missions with little notification. and the case of this american being held might just prompt him to make that trip. he says he faces eight hours a day of farm labor. in a rekrcent interview, kennet bay, an american citizen being held in a north korean labor camp, choked up when he talked
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about missing his father's 70th birthday. >> translator: my hope still is that north korea will forgive and the u.s. will try harder to get me out speedily. i'm asking for their help. i am an only son. my father. i really hope to go congratulate him on his birthday. >> reporter: i spoke to bae's sister terry chung who says she's received letters from him in recent days. what did he say about his condition and where he's being held? >> he didn't say where he's being held, but he's concerned, and of course ours as well is that his health is deteriorating. he has some health problems, including diabetes, an enlarged heart. >> reporter: kenneth bae was sentenced recently to 15 years in that north korean camp. he said he had been accused of hostile acts aimed at bringing down the regime. his sister says he was conducting tours, but also spoke of another charge levelled
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against him, planning anti-north korean religious activities. >> he is a man of faith and a strong christian. his religious convictions might have gotten his in trouble. >> reporter: former president jimmy carter is at least considering going to north korea possibly to try to win bae's release. the carter center tells us the former president has no immediate plans to go. but carter has shown an unpredictable streak regarding north korea. in the mid 1990s, when tensions between washington and pyongyang were at their highest, carter brokered a deal with the regime on his own to dial it back. but angered the clinton administration for freelancing. in 2010, carter went to north korea and helped to earn the freedom of another american, gomes. i spoke to chris johnson about that, about bill clinton's 2009 trip to secure the release of two journalists and about what's in it for north korea. what is their psychology in this? what do they get out of it?
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>> i think it's that desire, the craving for recognition from the u.s. we've been through another one of these cycles where there's really no dialogue going on between the two sides and that's what drives the north koreans crazier than anything else. >> reporter: the state department would not comment on the reports of jimmy carter possibly going to north korea. the white house would say only that if he is going, it would be as a private citizen. in the meantime, kenneth bae's sister says she contacts the state department every week imploring them to do what they can to win her brother's release. >> i know you've spoken with a lot of analysts who followed north korea very closely. how do they think the new leader kim young un, the young leader of north korea, would receive jimmy carter? >> well, he's the real wild card here, as always. kim jong un never received a major american dignitary before. chris johnson pointed out that he's been known to veer away from that playbook that's written by his father and grandfather. but johnson also says that if someone of jimmy carter's stature does come to pyongyang,
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it's likely that he'll play that propaganda card. we'll see him use the full thing to his advantage. >> he did receive dennis rodman, who later came back and appealed to his pal kim jong un to release kenneth bae. >> you get the sense he wants someone of a higher stature. >> i know this for a fact, his first choice was michael jordan, but obviously michael jordan declined. when i was there in december of 2010, it was a very tense moment, too, but you could see exactly that point the north korean leadership, they want to have what they see as a normal relationship with the outside world. the outside world, though, the u.s. and the others, they want north korea to step down on its nuclear weapons program, that's been the big sticking issue. >> going back and forth. every analyst will tell you what you said, they crave that attention from the united states. give us legitimacy in your eyes. but the americans won't do it
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unless they really dial back the nuclear program. it's an ongoing back and forth. >> if jimmy carter goes and brings home kenneth bae. thanks very much. american captives, nuclear threats, taunting the united states. north korea under kim jong un has many similarities to the days when his father and grandfather ruled that country. in many ways, the nation is fixated on the past. ivan watson is inside north korea and filed this report. >> reporter: north korea is probably the only country in the world that organizers are dedicated to two flowers, red and purple blossoms. named after two former rulers of the country, north korea's founder, kim il sung and his son kim jong il. >> when you look at this,
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reflections of our leaders. >> north koreans are taught quite literally to worship their leaders, bowing before the palace that is the final resting place of both father and son. for visitors to this strictly disciplined militaristic society, it's good to be reminded that children still love the little things in life. >> who has roller blades? >> reporter: but ask a 12-year-old what's his favorite tv show, and he answers, i like cartoons and documentary films about kim il sung. these days, there's a new ruler of north korea. kim youjong un, a man in his 20. but recent military parades celebrating the 60-year anniversary of the end of the korean war look very similar to parades that were held in this same square 15 or 20 years ago.
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as part of the celebration, kim jong un unaugust -- inaugurated a brand-new museum. this is dedicated to the korean war. built by kim jong un, the current leader of north korea. and we've heard about the colossal loss of life 60 years ago, but if you take a look in here at the end of the day, it still focuses very much on kim il sung, the founder who bears a remarkable resemblance to his grandson, the current leader of the country. experts say the north korean government is deliberately trying to leak the grandson to the image of his grandfather in the eyes of the public. since the relative wealth of the 1960s and '70s when kim ill sun was leader, north korea has done through a deadly economy and its economy is a tiny fraction of the size of south korea's.
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though today some north koreans may have cell phones, they still don't have access to e-mail, internet, or even international calls. during anniversary celebrations, a top official from china, north korea's wartime ally, stood by kim jong un's side. but in recent decades, china has taken a very different, prosperous path of development. while north korea's leadership remains committed to communism and a cultive personality. as it celebrates a 60-year-old war, north korea still seems to be living in the past. ivan watson, cnn, pyongyang. and coming up here in "the situation room," we have details of new cancer research that could save thousands of lives every year. plus, a reality tv star indicted. details of the charges against a real housewife of new jersey. ok, i am coming.
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of your retirement today. ♪ ♪ here is some information you need to know. selective screening may help reduce the death rate from the top cancer killer. that would be lung cancer. our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta has details of new research and the potential to save thousands of lives each year. >> perfect. this is me every morning. swimming. it was something donna craig never thought she'd be able to do as a lung cancer survivor. she's still going strong at 81, spending lots of time with her
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children and her grandsons. you see, craig was a smoker for most of her adult life. then an ad in the local newspaper caught her attention. >> it said if you smoked a long time, we're looking for you. so i thought it wouldn't hurt. so i signed up, and had the first scan negative. >> she went back the next year. >> second scan, negative. >> and a year later. >> third scan, large tumor. i still had no symptoms of any kind. if it hadn't been for that test, i wouldn't be here. >> craig was screened at md anderson cancer center for a national study. >> when the patient comes into the scanning here -- >> where she got a spiral ct scan. looked like this one. >> knowing who to screen is vital. because there's a high false positive rate, which can lead to procedures, even surgery for patients who turn out not to have cancer. recent studies show if you focus
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on current or heavy smokers, the chance is smaller. just by figuring out who to screen, in this case heavy smokers, you can make a huge impact. >> amongst the smokers, we can identify those that are knocking on cancer's door, enlist those into more intensive screening, a c.a.t. scan, x-ray of the test, that identifies legions that could be suspicious. >> while lung cancer is the biggest killer of men and women as far as cancer goes, he says diagnosing early can change that. >> if you catch it late, the chances of surviving the disease are poor. >> so just by shifting the stage, you have an opportunity to impact on 175,000 deaths per year. >> sorry i missed paul's call. >> today, craig is more than
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seven years cancer-free. >> it feels wonderful. i feel very, very lucky and very grateful. >> dr. sanjay gupta, cnn reporting. >> so here's the bottom line. people 55 to 79 years old who smoke 30 packs a year or more and have smoked within the last 15 years should consider getting screened. for all the latest in medical news, be sure and watch "sanjay gupta, md" right here on cnn. still ahead, you'll find out why teresa and joe, "the real housewives" of new jersey, they have been slapped with a federal criminal indictment. and a driver gets a ticket for running a red light and sparks fly. >> i think you're being ridiculous. then the little tiny chipmunks go all the way up... ♪ [ female announcer ] when your swapportunity comes,
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real life trouble for one of "the real housewives" of new jersey. teresa and her husband joe now indicted on fraud and tax charges. cnn's business correspondent has the details for us. what happened here? >> first of all, this right here in my hand is the 33-page indictment against the celebrity couple. it is a pretty exhaustive list of charges. 39 counts in total, including, get this, a conspiracy to defraud lenders and illegally obtain mortgages. so, for example, authorities say that in september 2001, teresa applied for a mortgage loan that falsely stated that she worked as an executive assistant, when
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in actual fact, she was unemployed. the couple is also accused of hiding their income and assets during the feds during a bankruptcy case, pretty much lying about how much money they were making on "the real housewives" of new jersey. joe, her husband, was also charged with failure to file tax returns for four years from 2004 to 2008 when he allegedly made just under $1 million. now, teresa has issued a statement, she is standing by her man. she says "i am committed to my family and i intend to maintain our lives in the best way possible, which includes continuing my career. as a result, i am hopeful that we resolve this matter with the government as quickly as possible." now, we reached out to bravo to find out if the couple would still be allowed on the show. bravo actually is not commenting at this point. i did also reach out to the couple's publicist, who says that bravo hasn't yet given any indication that the couple would let go or be fired from the
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show. but lastly, wolf, just to get you a sense of how serious these charges are, loan application fraud carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million and a $100,000 fine. now, lastly, they do have an initial court appearance tomorrow at 10:00. their lawyer says their arraignment will be some time over the next few weeks. the couple, i am told, plans to plead not guilty. wolf? >> zane arbor reporting for us. thanks very much. we'll see what bravo decides to do. somewhere in the world right now, a jewel thief is hiding, get this, $136 million worth of diamonds. it turns out the stolen gems are worth more than twice we were told yesterday when the robbery happened in the french resort of cannes. you may know the city for its film festival, but it also has a reputation as a jewel thief's paradise. cnn's erin mclaughlin is there.
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>> reporter: wolf, police are scouring thousands of hours of surveillance video to try and figure out how a man who prosecutors say they believe was acting alone was able to walk in to that hotel armed with a semiautomatic pistol and steal over $100 million worth of jewelry. it's a story straight out of a hitchcock film. >> filmed on the beautiful french riviera. >> reporter: one man walks into a hotel in cannes, france, and walks out with $136 million worth of diamond jewelry. >> diamonds. the only thing in the world you can't resist. >> reporter: the carlton hotel, the setting for the iconic movie "to catch a thief," was assigned to one of europe's biggest jewelry heists sunday morning. >> it was a gun and nobody stopped him. nobody -- i don't know -- there was nobody around, and they just gave him $40 million worth of jewelry. it's just incredible. >> reporter: police say a robber
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whose face was carvered with a hat and scarf threatened to shoot guests during the holdup. it's known for its glitz and glamour, but lately, it's become a magnet for jewelry theft. in may, a $2.6 million necklace belonging to jeweller was taken from a hotel party. later that same month, over $1 million worth of jewels were stolen from a safe in the hotel. this latest heist comes just two days after a member of the notorious pink panther jewel thief gang escaped from a swiss prison. however, it is too soon to say if there is any link to this incident. authorities are looking through surveillance footage of the crime. >> diamonds are like cash. they're the most concentrated form of wealth on the face of the earth. so they can -- they can be very influential in acquiring weap s weapons, in acquiring drugs, or anything else that we want to keep out of society.
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>> reporter: thankfully, no one was hurt. not a shot was fired. but plenty of questions remain as to how this could have happened. why there wasn't more security. after all, this is looking like it could be one of the biggest gem thefts in european contemporary history. wolf? >> erin mclaughlin reporting from cannes in the south of france. up next, jeanne moos and the red-light runner who fought back. >> i want you to do your job and find somebody that broke the law. >> okay. i'll be right back. the hall of success. here we honor the proud accomplishments of our students and alums. people like, maria salazar, an executive director at american red cross. or garlin smith, video account director at yahoo. and for every garlin, thousands more are hired by hundreds of top companies. each expanding the influence of our proud university of phoenix network. that's right, university of phoenix.
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we have a new photo to show you of the first panda twins born in the united states in a quarter century. take a look at this image from zoo atlanta's facebook page. we're told the 14-day-old panda twins -- known as cub a and cub b -- have been growing quickly. cub a, which used to be the smaller of the two, has had a huge growth spurt, and is now actually bigger than his brother. sweet vindication for one outraged driver thanks to a police dash camera. here's cnn's jeanne moos.
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>> reporter: it was a ticket for a red light that had a vermont motorist seeing red. >> you think i've been -- let's back up a minute. jason lawton was in his cruiser waiting for his light to change when he saw a pickup truck go through the intersection. the officer then followed the pickup for about two miles before pulling it over. >> i went through a red light? >> yeah. >> i did not. >> reporter: artist rod macgyver was adamant that he didn't run any light, but he later apologized for his belligerence. >> well, i think you're out to lunch. >> are you smoking pot? >> yeah, i want you to charge me for going through a red light. >> do you? >> yeah. >> reporter: the officer did ticket him for running the light, and when macgyver filed a complaint, he said he got this e-mail from the officer's superior, sergeant allen fortin. i reviewed this tape.
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you were in violation and when you were stopped, you asked, screamed at the officer, to issue you the ticket, so please feel free to contest the ticket. macgyver did, but first he asked for the dash cam video. so how hard was it to get hold of that dash cam video? macgyver said it took weeks. he kept having to ask for it over and over, about five phone calls, a couple of e-mails. he had to pay a $45 fee. when he finally got it, macgyver watched his pickup go through a yellow light before it turned red. a judge dismissed the ticket, but macgyver decided to sue in small claims court for $2,000, about what he estimated all the time he'd spent was worth, and to make a point. >> i am driven by their lack of honesty. >> reporter: cnn tried to contact the attorney for the officers but got no response. the officers didn't show up for a court proceeding friday, waiting in a nearby coffee shop. the officer who wrote the ticket
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told the traffic judge that he thought he saw the truck run the light, but admitted the video showed he was wrong. >> and he is going to learn a difficult lesson out of this. >> reporter: a lesson taught by a guy who got caught red-handed, not running a red light. >> i want you to leave me alone, go and do your job and find somebody who broke the law. >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> macgyver, by the way, says it's the message, not the money, that matters and that he's willing to tell the judge he'd be happy with an award of $1. remember, you can always follow what's going on here in "the situation room," tweet me @wolfblitzer, tweet th the @cnnsitroom. tomorrow, rand paul is coming under serious criticism from
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republicans. senator rand paul joins me here. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. "erin burnett out front" starts right now. another horrifying train crash tonight. two commuter trains collide. plus a horrible day for anthony wiener, if it could get worse. a former president is livid with him. and the pope's shocking words, but do they really signal anything new for the church? let's go "out front." good evening, everyone, i'm erin burnett. we begin "out front" with a developing story. anoth another major train crash, tonight in switzerland. you're looking at the picture. at least 40 people injured, 5 of them, we are aware, very seriously. two commuter trains collided headon before 7:00 p.m. the driver of one of the trains is still missing.